Question, re: photography on MARC and VRE

How are MARC and VRE about railfan photography on their platforms? Can I expect any issues if I go on the platforms at Alexandria, New Carrollton or Rockville without a ticket to take a few photographs?

RailBus63 wrote:How are MARC and VRE about railfan photography on their platforms? Can I expect any issues if I go on the platforms at Alexandria, New Carrollton or Rockville without a ticket to take a few photographs?

You shouldn't have any problems at all at Rockville. I used that station until about a year ago, and all MARC trains on the Brunswick Line stop there so it can be pretty busy in the morning and evening. I've never done any photography there, but there's no one there to say anything to you anyways, except for the CSX station manager and train crews who could care less.

New Carrollton is a totally different matter since its more heavily used, and is owned by Amtrak. Apparently, Amtrak has very strict security policies, and MARC makes it very clear that anyone who uses an Amtrak owned station (DC, New C, BWI, Balt, Aberdeen) is subject to search. Amtrak has relaxed restrictions on photography, but I have heard of misunderstandings at Union Station involving photographers.

I have no idea about Alexandria since I've never been there, but the station is owned by the city.

New Carlton is a ticketed passenger only station, so you will most likely run into problems if you take pictures and then not get on the train. The same is true for Penn Station and Union Station.

I would also generally discourage people from using NCR, it's not the nicest area.

gprimr1 wrote:I would also generally discourage people from using NCR, it's not the nicest area.

Says who? New Carrollton might not be chichi Montgomery County, but the station is far from being in a dangerous slum. I've been using both the Metro and Amtrak stations for the last seven years whenever I go to visit my aunt in Annapolis, and I've never had a problem. My uncle has been commuting into the city via New Carrollton daily for the last few years, and he hasn't had a problem either.

Update - took photos at Gaithersburg, Rockville, New Carrollton and Alexandria. No issues at any station. Thanks to all for the info.

Whether one thinks the New Carrollton station does or does not have a crime problem, Metro itself seems to think so, as indicated by this recent news article.

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1438350&nid=25

RailVet wrote:Whether one thinks the New Carrollton station does or does not have a crime problem, Metro itself seems to think so, as indicated by this recent news article.

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1438350&nid=25

This recent issue makes it seem that the end-of-line Metro stations have high crime, but this can be deceiving at is only relative to the other stations on the line. A washington post article from about a month ago went in depth into the situation and listed other stations such as Branch Ave, Greenbelt, and Vienna. The end stations seem to have a large number of crimes because:

1. they are by far the most heavily used- while in-line stations serve a specific neighborhood/locale, end-of-line stations serve that locale and beyond
2. they usually have very large multiple-storey parking facilities and/or very large parking lots- car break-ins were actually the main source of the high crime stats, and the station itself doesn't really have much higher crime than others along the line.

The stations that truly have the highest crime (from non-automobile related incidents), are mostly in SE and NE DC such as Brookland, RI Ave, Anacostia etc. Even the wtop article mentions these: "stations near the Maryland border ranked high in the District." The crime at these stations include theft (especially of ipods), assault, and even a recent shooting at Anacostia. It is very unlikely for some random person to be shot at Franconia-Springfield or New Carrollton. The only end-of-line station I would be unsure of is Branch Ave, due to its proximity to DC.

At least Shady Grove is not mentioned in that report thankfully, while that too, is a terminus station. Also, while Shady Grove has no MARC Station, one can phtograph or videotape the CSX/MARD/AMtrak P029/P030 from the Shady Grove WMATA Platform, they give you a good shot (although there maybe some high-standing plants that may obstruct your view a wee bit, but it should be another photo hotspot

When my dad was down at Ft. Belvoir for work I went down with him using public transit I went to the Franconia-Springfiled Metro VRE Station and did some railfanning. That was a good spot I saw lots of CSX, some VRE and some Amtrak. This was back ion 2006 so things could have changed. I felt very safe at that station BTW. I think in terms of places to stay away from while riding the Metro is probably some Orange and Green Line stops.

Kaback9 wrote:When my dad was down at Ft. Belvoir for work I went down with him using public transit I went to the Franconia-Springfiled Metro VRE Station and did some railfanning. That was a good spot I saw lots of CSX, some VRE and some Amtrak. This was back ion 2006 so things could have changed. I felt very safe at that station BTW. I think in terms of places to stay away from while riding the Metro is probably some Orange and Green Line stops.

I've never been to Franconia, but ironically it has the most crime of all the VA stations (remember this is relative, so the chances of getting mugges are still very low). I have been to Braddock Rd/Union Station and like Franconia, has excellent views of VRE (both lines), Amtrak, and the Blue and Yellow lines.

I don't think there are any "bad" stops on the Orange Line, except for maybe Landover, Cheverly, and Deanwood. New Carrollton is excellent and very safe, and it's the best spot trains in the region IMHO, aside from NY Ave in DC. The only "bad" stops on the Green Line are in SE DC (definitely stay away) and NE DC Ft Totten-Gallery PL. These stops are underground anyways so it wouldn't make a difference. I take the Green Line (if I don't take MARC) to College Park/U-Md after transferring from Red at Ft Totten and it is 100% safe east of Ft Totten, especially College Park-UMD and Greenbelt, where the CSX/MARC Capitol Br/Camden lines run parrallel to the Metro line. I would highly recommend Greenbelt MARC station to anyone.

Best MARC stations (near DC):
-Greenbelt: MARC Camden Line, CSX Capitol Subdiv., Green Line
-New Carrollton: MARC Penn Line, Amtrak NEC, Orange Line
-Rockville: MARC Brunswick Line, CSX Metropolitan Subviv., Amtrak Cap. Ltd., Red Line
-NY Ave/Florida Ave: Amtrak NEC, Amtrak LD, MARC (all three lines), VRE (both lines), Metro Red Line. In rush hour expect Metro trains every 30 sec-1 min, and Amtrak/MARC/VRE trains every 2-3 min.

And Shady Grove as I earlier mentioned, some places don't have those high standing bushes in the way so one can get some goos shots, and yes, you can even go up to the roof of the Parking Garage at Shady Grove and get bird's eye shots of MARC/CSXT/Amtrak P029/P030